Myrtle Natchez
Myrtle Natchez
How far away from a stump can I plant a tree?
I had a bradford pear in a flower bed between my driveway and house that fell a couple months ago. I am thinking about replacing it with either a natchez crape myrtle, redbud, or dogwood. Because its in a flowerbed my only option is to plant it about 3 feet away from the old stump of the bradford and about 4 feet away from the driveway. I was planning on hacking away any roots that get in my way while digging a hole for the new tree, but will the old trees root system hurt the new tree? Also, if I use a “Stump Killer” to help decompose the stump and roots, will this hurt the new tree being so close?
Getting a stump killer will also affect any new tree, so that’s not a good idea. And the old roots will make it very difficult to both plant and have the new tree survive due to the problem you mention, root wars.
They have stump removing machines and/or people who will do it for you. That’s the best thing you can do. They dig down and pulverize the old stump and roots. Then you can replant.
Natchez Crape Myrtle Tree Flowering Tree